Perforated foldable sheet



Dec. 8, 1942. M. F.'WAGNER PERFORATED FOLDABLE SHEET Filed April 24, 1941 ORIGINAL I l z ffimog. 1

ORIGINAL Patented Dec. 8, 1942 UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE 2,304,219 PERFORATED oLDABLE SHEET Melvin F. Wagner, Milwaukee, Wis. Application April 24, 1941, Serial No. 390,070

2 Claims.

7' to provide an improve ledger sheet or the like which may be readily manufactured at moderate cost.

It has heretofore been customary to provide paper sheets, such as ledger sheets wherein several copies of the work are desired, with a series of perforations or scorings for facilitating tearing of each sheet into the desired number of sections. A sheet thus perforated may be folded along the score lines thereby placing the sections one below the other, carbon paper may then be properly positioned between the superimposed sections, and the folded sheet may be fed around the cylindrical platen or roller of the recording machine preparatory to having recordings made thereon. After the work has been applied to the sheet, the latter may be removed from the machine and the various sections, each showing a reproduction of the work, may be separated from each other by merely tearing the sheet along the perforations or score lines. The perforations heretofore used for producing score lines on ledger sheets or th like, have been either of the spaced elongated type suitably alined across the sheet, or of the pinhole type likewise placed in rectilinear alinement across the sheet. While both of these prior types of perforations are more or less effective in providing suitable lines for folding and for separating the sections of the sheet, they are both objectionable in that the folded edges of the paper sheet tend to buckle and wrinkle when fed around the roller or cylindrical platen of a recording machine. This buckling or wrinkling of the paper along the fold line is caused by the slightly different rate of feeding travel between the upper and lower sec tions as the paper advances about the small roller, and such,{ buckling leaves objectionable creases or corrugations on the lower sheets adjacent the fold lines. The buckling and the resulting creases are naturally accentuated with greater numbers of fold lines when more than two copies are simultaneously produced, and naturally greater strain is placed upon the adjacent edges of the outer sheets, frequently resulting in transverse rips adjacent the folds caused by the weakening of the sheet at the perforations.

It is therefore a more specific object of my present invention to provide a paper sheet which may be readily folded into sections along one or more perforated lines wrapped about a small cylindrical platen of any kind without buckling, wrinkling, or tearing at the fold, and subsequently separated along the line of folding without undesirably ripping.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a sheet with a longitudinal series of alined slits having transverse slits extending thereacross, the longitudinal slits forming a fold and tear line and the transverse slits permitting smooth folding of the several sections at the fold line when the folded sheet is fed about a small cylindrical platen or roller.

An additional specific object of my invention is to provide an improved ledger sheet or the like which is highly practical and efficient in use, and which can be manufactured and sold at moderate cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved flexible sheet which may be readily folded one section upon the other for insertion about the cylindrical platen or roller of a recording machine, without causing undesirable distortion or relative creeping which may result in permanent marring of the sheet at the fold line.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet Which may be folded one section upon the other in order to produce several copies of the work, the sheet being perforated in such manner as to permit flexibility adjacent the fold line while the folded sheet is being advanced around a small roller.

These and other specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of the various features constituting my present improvement may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. l is a plan view of a ledger sheet provided with perforations made in accordance with my improved method;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the ledger sheet folded along the line of perforations and positioned about the, cylindrical platen or roller of a recording machine; and

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a ledger sheet provided with a modified type of the improved perforations.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as being specifically applied to a paper ledger sheet or the like wherein the original and one copy of the work may be produced, it is not my desire or intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope or utility of the improvement.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the improved ledger sheet manufactured in accordance with my invention, comprises in general a flexible sheet of paper 5 divided into equal sections 6, 1 by a rectilinear series of spaced elongated perforations 8 each having a transverse slit 9 extending thereacross. The perforations 8 form a rectilinear fold line for the sections 6, T which enables accurate folding thereof one above the other prior to disposition about the cylindrical platen or roller I0, as shown in Fig. 2, of a recording machine such as a typewriter, adding machine, accounting machine, or calculating machine. The perforations 8 likewise form a definite tear line for separating the sections 6, 1 after the work has been recorded thereon, and Fig. 1 shows a portion of the sheet E as it may be torn along the perforations 8 with the material ll between the elongated perforations being ripped.

When it is desired to reproduce work such as adding, accounting, or typing on the sheet 5 and to provide a duplicate copy of the work as originally recorded, the sheet 5 may be folded along the rectilinear series of perforations 8 thereby placing the section 6 marked original? directly above the section I marked copy with the lower or back surface of the original section 9 adjacent the top surface of the copy section i. A sheet of carbon paper or the like may then be inserted between the sections 6, l and the assembled sheets may then be fed about the small cylindrical platen or roller 19 of the recording machine with the top surface of the original section 6 facing the type and the lower surface of the copy section i facing and adjacent to the roller H3, The roller it maythen be rotated and the folded sheet 5 may be advanced thereabout, and the section 6 will naturally advance at a lower rate of speed than the section 1, and consequently a buckling strain is produced adjacent the fold line. This strain is relieved by the provision of the transverse slits 9 which are located along the fold line and permit slight freedom of action between the sections 6, 1 as these sections proceed about the roller ID. This action of the transverse slits 9 as the sheets are fed about the roller i9 is shown in Fig. 2, wherein it will be noted that the portion of the slits 9 extending into the outer section 6 spread to permit greater distance of travel of the outer section 6 about the roller. When the recording of the work has been completed, the sheet may be withdrawn from the roller l9 and may either be kept intact or separated along the line of perforations 8 as shown in Fig. 1, by merely pulling the sections 9, 'l apart. The alined elongated perforations 8 weaken the sheet 5 and provide a natural tear line. It should be noted that it is preferably to space the perforations 8 in such manner that at least one end perforation severs the edge of the sheet thereby providing a starting point for tearing.

Referring specifically to Fig. 3 wherein a modified form of perforated ledger sheet is shown, a flexible sheet 15 is divided into equal sections l8, IT by a rectilinear series of spaced elongated perforations 18 each having several intersecting diagonal slits I9 extending thereacross. As in the preferred type of perforated sheet, the elongated perforations l8 provide a fold line as well as a tear line for separating the sections l6, l1; and in Fig. 3 a portion of the section I! has been turned forward showing the ripped material 2| between the perforations l8 after tearing. Likewise, the transverse slits I9 provide flexibility immediately adjacent the fold line when the sections I6, H are folded over each other and wrapped about a small roller, thereby reducing the strain on the sheet edges at the fold and eliminating the customary buckling creases. This modified type of perforation is especially adapted for use where a greater number of sections are utilized to provide numerous copies, since greater flexibility is obtained adjacent the fold lines by the provision of several transverse slits at each rectilinear perforation.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that a highly practical improved perforated paper sheet adapted to be folded, advanced about a small cylindrical platen or roller, and subsequently separated along the fold line, is provided. The sheet will retain a neat and smooth appearance at all times and the various sections may be readily separated along a predetermined straight line without the aid of shears.

The improved sheets have proven highly satis' factory in actual use, and my invention has resulted in the production of improved ledger sheets and the like at relatively low cost.

It should be noted that while this invention has been illustrated as particularly applicable to ledger sheets wherein several sections are adapted to be separated into duplicates, it may also be utilized on itemized statements or the like formed with an auxiliary tongue foldable along the line of perforations to properly position and aline a ledger sheet between the main statement and the tongue preparatory to feeding the assemT bled sheets about the roller of the recording machine. The invention is obviously adapted for many other similar uses.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of use, herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art. I

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture, comprising, unitary sheet foldable along a straight line to provide two superimposed sections coacting along a common plane, a rectilinear series of endwise separated elongated and alined perforations extending across the sheet coincident with said fold line, and a transverse slit extending medially through each perforation and entirely across and beyond the fold line to prevent bulging of the superimposed sections adjacent to the fold when bent relative to said plane.

2. An article of manufacture, comprising, a unitary paper sheet foldable along a straight line to provide two superimposed sections coacting along a common plane, a rectilinear series of endwise separated elongated and alined perforations extending across the sheet coincident with said fold line, and a transverse slit bisecting each of. said perforations and extending perpendicular to the fold line and across and considerably beyond the same to prevent bulging of the superimposed sections adjacent to the fold when bent out of said plane.

MELVIN F. WAGNER. 

